Winter Style Tips: Embracing Black

As the colder months approach, the men of South Africa can pack away their shorts and start planning a fresh winter wardrobe. Luckily, southerners like us can look to the fashionable north for guidance about the do’s and don’ts of the Autumn/Winter season trends.Colour is the easiest fashion element to use for a change of season and in winter black is a fast way to be fashionable. Black is not just a staple colour for this season but can be used in new and interesting ways so that it becomes a masculine statement of elegance and edge.

Researching the fashion weeks around the world, the men’s street style rivalled the women’s, proving that LBD (little black dress –women’s speak) in the male world of fashion refers to layered, black and dapper. Seoul, Copenhagen and New York proved most inspirational from bearded gentlemen in fur to preened punks in leather. It can be argued that black never goes out of style and so it has become the safe colour, worn by millions on a day-to-day basis.

The trick is that men are now using black in experimental ways. Black has been praised by women for years, due to its magical slimming properties and men should not shy away from this transformative shade. Black crosses boundaries of age, gender, culture and season, making it the universal colour of style. But donning a basic black tee and jeans is not enough this winter! Head to toe black is required to be considered trendy. The image may be daunting but it’s either all black or no black.

Charcoal, slate and petrol shades can be layered by piling on a jersey, waistcoat and jacket. Texture is essential when wearing all black, so grab Ouma’smoth-eaten scarf that she knitted for you last winter and pair it with your leather jacket for an evening out at Woodstock or Melville. For the working professional, black is a simple way to exude authority at the office, matching a formal wool coat over a chunky knit sweater. Top off any ensemble with a matte wide brimmed fedora or a beanie for an extra hint of boyish edge.

I caution that this trend should not be followed on weekends when there is a rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand, when wearing all black is considered treason in the Republic.